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It’s Fri-yayyyyy!

Hey Newsletter readers! Welcome back to yet another newsletter week! Now this is a special Newsletter for you because it’s Friday! And that means I’m super hopped up on caffeine by now! I’m joking, but why is the newsletter “late” this week, as I normally aim for Tuesday publications? Well, that is totally Ray and Pedal Mafia’s fault! But that’s okay, because they have a great excuse! Hang tight and I’ll tell you all about it below!

But before I get too far ahead of myself, if you’re a new newsletter subscriber, thanks for joining us. However, you are a little late to the party, I’m now assigning you reading homework for the weekend. You can catch up here with the Newsletter Archives. Happy Reading!

Okay, first up. I don’t want to leave you wondering why Ray is getting blamed for this week’s late publication of the newsletter. It was because we were waiting and testing, and waiting and testing, soooo many details on the Pedal Mafia website for the DC Rainmaker cycling kits. Now, FINALLY, I’m allowed to send my newsletter with the announcement that all the website store bugs have been exterminated and the DC Rainmaker cycling kits are now available for ordering! Just click HERE to get directly to the ordering website, orrrr HERE for the link to Ray’s post giving you a bit of the insider look into the whole process.

We are super excited about this (obviously) because people have been asking Ray for this for YEARS, and we wanted to do it “right”. We wanted to be sure we were doing the best research we could (as textiles are not our expertise) to get our supporters the best product! We also wanted all countries charged the same one flat rate shipping ~$10USD (DHL Express no less!). We are doing our best to both make these “accessible” while also ensuring it’s a quality kit that you are going to WANT to wear! We hope we have done you proud! 

Next up, I feel like we should get balloons or something! Why? Well, it’s like TrainerRoad just graduated college or something! No, it’s like, they’re all grown up! Yesterday, TrainerRoad rolled out their new forward looking calendar and planned workouts. They are moving on, or graduating from, the identity of simply a trainer control platform to a training platform. I feel like Ray (and I) have the privilege of getting to see some companies start out from their family garage “start up” stage, to growing into something like this, and it’s really cool. So, Bravo TrainerRoad, Bravo!!

Moving on to the next notch on the excitement reel, we have the first look at the Tacx Flux S Smart Trainer. With this trainer actually available to purchase now (albeit shipping soon), and the price point at $749, Ray said this was a genius move by Tacx. What probably wasn’t so ingenious was detailing the journey of the Tacx Flux lifeline. WHOOPS! Man, Ray dives into the long story behind the Tacx Flux 1, Tacx 2, and this Tacx S series. It gets complicated, but at the end of the day, it’s a solid option for shoppers. Just make sure you’re sitting down when you read the post.

Once you’ve made it through that mindbender, go ahead and check out the 2018 Interbike: Tech Tidbit Round-Up post. Yes, I said “tid-bit” not “TIM-bit”. Big big difference. Don’t worry, Ray goes to Canada next week for the annual Ant+ Symposium, and I am sure he will visit our national icon chain Tim Hortons and take pictures of himself eating delicious Timbits for you. If you are not Canadian, I’m sorry for you, but in any case you need to be sure you find yourself a Tim Hortons and try this delicacy.

Moving along. Yesterday Ray posted an In-Depth review for the Minoura Kagura DT Smart Trainer. The funny thing about this product is, I have seen its box for the last year. Unopened and sad, sitting in a corner. This box made it’s way from Paris, to Amsterdam (storage unit), to the new DCR Cave. Whereby it finally was able to see the light. Likely because the company finally saw the light, and was able to address the early accuracy issues of the device. Go ahead, see for yourself on Ray’s post.

Last, but certainly not least, Ray’s 5 Random Things Post. Here you will read all about how Ray almost missed his flight back to windy Amsterdam. How he is officially crushing me now in our #13WeekFitnessChallenge… I mean, how his luggage was lost and he still managed to go to the gym (I napped for the record). And, finally, if you remember last newsletter I told you all about our 10 year “relationship” anniversary. Well, I took the occasion to concoct what was probably my most successful dinner creation… ever. While it might look very simple, it is my most proud savory dish to date. Go see for yourself.

Rounding up the tech talk for this week, I have listed below all of the YouTube goodness. If you want to be first in line for being notified of new videos, be sure you check out the DC Rainmaker YouTube Channel and click subscribe!

·         GoPro Hero Black 7 – A collection of footage to compare video using the HyperSmooth, TimeWarp, and Gimbal effects.

·         Tacx Flux S Smart Trainer – Quick look into the details. 

·         Insider Look at the DCR Amsterdam Cave – Created for DC Rainmaker VIP Supporters. If you want to receive videos like these, click here and join the membership (they also got DCR Kit discount codes too!).

·         GoPro Hero Black 7- A look into comparing the audio and mic samples.

As always, if you made it all the way through that pile of tech talk, then you probably need a break. For more reading, and less tech talk, keep on scrollin’ to my part of the job here at DC Rainmaker.

In-Depth Thoughts from The Girl

Hoi! Thanks, for taking the time to skim on down here to my little soap box. I hope everyone is looking forward to their weekend. Anyone racing this weekend? Heading out on a long epic ride or run somewhere? Or, maybe just couch surfing?

We have a big weekend coming up. Or I should just say a little bit of a hectic weekend? The whole fam jam is heading off on airplanes come Monday morning, and that means I have to dust off my organizational skills for packing suitcases and more importantly carry on bags for two kiddos! The catch is, I said “airplanes” as in Ray is on one flight and the rest of us on another. What does one pack while traveling as a solo-mom with two kiddos and a dog on an 8 hour flight across the Atlantic? Maybe next week I’ll do an in-depth recount of what was in the bag!! Or not. We will just wait and see how successful the flight goes first!

Our weekend ahead will also likely involve food. I mean, we do of course feed our kiddos. I just mean, good old fashion cookin’. Ray and I love to cook, and we have been really making an effort to get back at making “nice” food on the weekends again. As this was something we made a big effort on, and really enjoyed doing, pre-kiddos. It’s funny the unforeseen things that change when kids are added to the equation?

Anyways, why am I telling you this? Well, ever since Ray started posting food pictures again, notably my recent chorizo risotto and this past weekend’s ravioli, people have been asking for recipes. Errrrrr ummmmm, well, I don’t really use recipes. For savory things that is. Of course baking, or pastries, or even pasta dough there are recipes. But, otherwise I have a rough idea in my head of what I want as an end result, and an understanding of ratios for flavors, and just go from there.

I hope that in no way that sounded “food” snobby. You have to remember I was not graced with a big skill set in technology, definitely not in physics, and I am thankful everyday for spellcheck, but when it comes to food, I think I do okay. We all have our skillz. So, I am wondering what to do now with the food stuff? I don’t think a straight up recipe would translate well, but I am super happy to share how I got from A to Z with both of these recipes. Maybe I’ll do another video project for you guys? Or a blog post? What (or how) do you want to see more food posts?

At this point, now I’m hungry. So I’m going to just say ciao for now, and brainstorm a little longer on the food front! Annnnnd get to packing. Wish me luck on the flight!

See you next week,

~The Girl.

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